530 Correct Trans Oil

[Larryb2020]

Two weeks ago while plowing heavy snow in 2nd my 530 started to make a squealing sound in the trans. I stopped and immediately raised the plow. After about 50' the noise was back. Shut her down and pulled the trans level plug and Nothing. I added between two and three gallons of diesel before anything came out of the level plug. Got her in the shop and drained a nasty brown mixture of water oil and diesel. What an idiot I was for overlooking this vital maintence. I had changed every other fluid in this low hour tractor since I bought it but for some reason never checked the trans. Next, I flushed the trans and primary drive housing twice with fresh K-1. Each time I jacked the rears in the air and ran through all gears. The second flush ran clear when drained. I refilled with John Deere GL-5 80-90wt Part# TY 6252. The pail said nothing about compatability with old Deeres. My dealer seemed to think the 80-90 wt would be fine instead of the straight 90 specified in my manual. We never talked about the GL rating but I erroneously assumed the GL-5 would be superior to the old GL-1. The tractor runs quiet now in all gears and loads so hopefully I did not do to much damage by foolishly working her hard while half full of dirty oilly mud. Now my next concern is have I refilled with a fluid incompatable with the yellow metals which may be in the trans. Does anyone know if the Deere 80-90 GL-5 will cause more damage in a 530. Thanks. "Sometimes in Life the Test Comes First and the Lesson Comes Later". LarryB2020

 

[BushogPapa]

The noise you heard may well have been from the 1st reduction area running dry..
Glad you caught it..
At least for now, any 80-90 wt oil is better than what you had...!!

Ron.

 

[Mike M]

DId you also drain flush and refill the reduction gear cover ? It will eventally flow in there ,but better to drain and prefill.

I think the problems with gl-5 and yellow metals worsen when water gets in the mix. Some gl-5 is even compatable with yellow metals hard to find out though as the cans don't usually tell you much.

 

[Larryb2020]

Thanks for your advice. I did flush the first reduction compartment two times with K-1 and then refilled with the 80-90. This probably was the area where the noise originated from. I will try to contact Mother Deere to see if the GL-5 is compatable. I would rather trust the opinions of two cylinder experts on on this board. Anyone have any ideas??? Thanks in advance.